Faisal Abdu'Allah's film "Double Pendulum" on at ViewTube

We’ve been lucky enough to attend an open air screening of Faisal Abdu’Allah’s new film “Double Pendulum”, this month, at ViewTube, overlooking the Olympic Stadium at sunset.

An Invisible Dust project as part of the Create festival this summer, his collaboration with scientists and sports professionals focuses on the art of breathing, lung development and problems that arise as a result of poor air quality.

His 9 minute 58 second film is in accordance with the 2009 sprint world record held by Usain Bolt of 9.58 seconds and particularly attention was paid to athletes who are at higher risk of contracting asthma because of their intense lung function in a polluted environment. London’s air quality has now fallen to below that of Beijing’s and although it has improved over the last year, it is still significantly harmful to those who do high levels of exercise outside.

A short but emphatic piece, which then went on to examine the effects of pollution in deprived areas of London, Abdu’Allah interestingly highlighted how ethnicity and economics play a role in the susceptibility of people to asthma. This is because those who live in underprivileged areas, notably Tower Hamlets and Hackney, are most likely to suffer as it is in those areas that pollution is highest. Professionals noted that there is a tendency for the white population to move to suburban areas where pollution tends to not be so bad whereas black, Bangladeshi and Asian communities are most at risk due to where they live.